Beginning
by pbt117
Summary: Bella starts her life as a first year resident at UChicago Medicine. She believes she can finally start living her life after years of schooling, little does she know how true that is. Follow along as she faces the challenges of being a new doctor, and the ups and downs that comes with life. Set in present time Chicago.
1. Chapter One

**Hello! So this is my first story that I decided to give a shot. I'm not 100% on the whole doctor/residency thing so if it don't follow how it does irl my bad lol but anyway i hope you guys like it!**

**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and all these characters, I just own the plot!**

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Chapter One

July 8, 2019.

The day my life finally began.

Today is the day I begin my first day as a resident at the University of Chicago Medical Center or shortly put UChicago Medicine. As med students, most would agree that they basically put their lives on hold throughout the rigorous courses and path to becoming a doctor, and I'm no exception. Finally, I get to start living the life I've worked so hard to get.

New city, new hospital, new, well, everything. I couldn't wait to get started with this journey, so much so that I was actually awake before my alarm sounded at 4:30 am. I quickly turned off my three alarms that spanned from 4:30 to 4:45 that I set in case one didn't do the job, leaving the other one that was set for 5:20, the time for me to be out the door.

After brushing my teeth and a quick shower, I got dress in a pair of black skinny slacks that fit perfect but still illustrated professionalism along with a navy-blue blouse and black, comfortable shoes. I cautiously folded my ironed white coat and placed it in my black leather tote that was supplied it basic things like an extra shirt, Chapstick, my wallet, and tampons in case of emergencies.

I quickly poured myself a cup of my favorite hazelnut coffee and hurried out the door. The adrenaline coursing through me had me moving much faster than my usual self. I locked my apartment door and spun around to head to the stairs in a quick motion, only to bump into a hard chest almost spilling my coffee. Luckily, the victim of my excitement/nerves steadied me as I stretched out my arm holding the coffee so it wouldn't spill.

"I'm so sorry! I hope I didn't spill any coffee on you!" I profusely apologized to the poor soul.

"It's okay, you didn't get me," a velvety voice chuckled.

I looked up and was met by amused sterling green eyes that remined me of fresh cut grass. I was in awe. I couldn't stop staring at the man in front of me, he was tall and lean and absolutely gorgeous. His dazzling green eyes was complemented by bronze, almost copper, hair. And his face, god his face was sculpted with a sharp jawline and high cheekbones like Adonis himself.

Suddenly I was broken out of my trance as my phone alarm started blaring through the narrow hallway causing both me and this beautiful stranger to jump in alarm.

_Crap! _It was 5:20 already.

"Oh god! I'm sorry! I have to go, I'm late," I rushed out as I hurried for the stairs. "Sorry again for bumping into you!" I called again as I started down the stairs.

I rushed down the dimly lit sidewalk for the quick walk to the bus stop that was three blocks down and around the corner. It was still dark outside since the sun hasn't risen yet but still starting to get a bit brighter. I quickly checked my watch to make sure I'm running on time.

5:25 am.

Perfect! By the time I got to the bus stop after rounding the corner, I had about three minutes before the 5:30 route that stops right before the hospital.

The bus arrived right on time and I got on with the three other passengers waiting. The short eight minute ride to the hospital seem extremely long as my mind kept running and the excitement kept me counting down the seconds. I couldn't decide if I was more nervous or excited as the bus came to a stop just before the hospital. I said a quick goodbye to the driver and headed towards the main entrance of UChicago.

I was about ten minutes early so I went to the lockers to put away my bag and meet with my fellow interns. By the time I got to the lockers, my nervousness had faded and was replaced mostly by excitement. This same energy was matched by almost everyone in the locker room as well as they chatted enthusiastically with their locker neighbors, there were a few that kept to themselves and overall seemed kind of standoffish. I spotted my locker and went to deposit my bag and to put on my white coat.

"Hey! I'm Alice Cullen," the tiny girl next to me spoke as she held her hand out.

"I'm Bella Swan," I introduced, shaking her hand.

And so my official first day began.

My team and I, a group of five, met with our attending, Dr. Linda Garcia, a highly respected cardiothoracic surgeon, and swapped shifts with the overnight team at 6:00 am sharp. Luckily, as it seems that today I was in God's good graces, Alice was on my team. Each of us in the team got assigned four patients and quickly went to work.

Throughout the morning, I checked on each of my patients, checking their vitals, labs, charts, you name it, I did not want to make any mistakes on my first day. One by one I checked in with all my patients and soon enough it was time to meet up for rounds with Dr. Garcia.

I spotted Alice as we waited for everyone to make their way to the meeting spot near the nurses station.

"So how'd your morning go?" Alice asked, leaning back on the counter.

"Not to bad, I have some complicated cases but I like complicated," I replied. "You?"

"Same, not to bad. Not gonna lie though, I'm kinda nervous for rounds," Alice admitted anxiously. "I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of Dr. Garcia. I heard she's so tough that someone actually quit medicine after their first day a couple years back."

"Ugh, don't remind me. I've just been chanting SOAP (an acronym that means Symptoms, Objective, Assessment, and Plan) in my head on the way here," I said.

I've heard the stories about Dr. Garcia. She was highly respected and rightfully so. She worked her way to the top as one of the best heart surgeons in the country, but with such achievements and success, it takes a level of toughness to get there and maintain it, especially as a woman in the medical field.

Finally, Dr. Garcia called order to all of us and we started. It seems that up until right now, my luck had run its course since the first patient we started with was one of mine.

We all huddled outside my patient's room, a 26-year-old woman who suffered a cocaine overdose. My heart pounded in my chest as I went through my patient's information and checked off each letter in SOAP and waited for Dr. Garcia's response.

It seemed like forever until she finally spoke, and I bit my lip in anticipation as I saw Alice give me the thumbs up behind Dr. Garcia. "Good job, Bella, I liked your presentation, you stuck to the most relevant points."

I breathed a sigh of relief as Dr. Garcia gave me the go ahead to see the patient. And so, the day went on. We went through rounds and seeing patients. By the time I was walking back to the locker room with Alice my feet were throbbing, and my head was killing me, I was simply exhausted. The day seem to go by so fast but so much was done in the span of twelve hours. After exchanging numbers with Alice and saying bye to a couple of other doctors on my team, I headed for the bus stop.

The ride home went by quickly and in no time, I was on my way home. The sun was still out since it was only 6:30 pm and in the middle of summer. I basked in the warm air as I rounded the corner making my way towards my apartment building. There were few people on the street walking, and even fewer cars on the road. I was content with this area, I got cheap rent and it was close to the hospital, however, it wasn't the greatest part of town. It wasn't overly dangerous but Charlie, my dad, made sure to make me promise to always walk with pepper spray. I would've found a better place in a safer neighborhood, not that this neighborhood was sketchy, it's just not my first choice. If I hadn't gotten the call that UChicago had a residency spot available so late in the year, I would've found a better place, but I was content with my place otherwise I'd be in Middle of Nowhere, Nebraska. So, I took the job and the best apartment I could find in such short time.

I was about two blocks away from my building when I was surprised by the tall figure jogging towards me on the sidewalk. He was clad in a grey hoodie and black gym shorts with sweat soaking his hair making it a dark brown color.

He greeted me with a smile and slight wave once he recognized me from this morning. I returned his smile and blushed slightly as we passed each other. He looked even better than this morning, how one person can be so attractive was beyond me.

I finally made it back to my three-story apartment building and climbed the three flights of stairs to my apartment. Once I made it in, I slumped down on my light grey couch and kicked my shoes off. After a couple minutes of tv, I put some leftover casserole to heat up in the oven and took a quick shower in the meantime.

My mind drifted back to the perfect stranger from earlier and I wonder who he was. Maybe he was one of my three neighbors on this floor. I wondered when I would see Adonis again. Soon enough, after dinner I collapsed into bed after an exhausting first day and smiled, in spite of being drained, to the fact that day one was a success.

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**Sooooooooo there you have it! Chapter 1! Let me know what you think and any feedback or suggestions you guys have!**

**Thank for reading and don't forget to drop a review!**


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two! I can't believe I wrote so much for this one, but I realize I wasn't too satisfied with the first chapter so I tried to make up for it with this one. I know it's not perfect, but I'm work towards that lol**

**Anyway, y'all know how this goes, SM owns everything!**

**Enjoy!**

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Chapter Two

The past three weeks has been busy and chaotic, but I loved every moment of it. From my hectic days and nights at the hospital, to my quiet, but few, days at home, I finally started to settle into my new life in Chicago. After moving from Seattle, not a little over a month before, it felt great to finally claim the Windy City as my home. I grew comfortable and seem to fit in well in the busy city, and with the long hours at the hospital, I've come to become friends with most of my team at work, and some of the other doctors and nurses. One person that has become a staple piece in my life though is Alice.

Ever since our first day at the hospital, Alice and I have been inseparable. With only knowing each other for just a short three weeks, it's just something about Alice that makes it feel like we've known each other since we were in diapers. Over the course of knowing her, I've come to find out that Alice is, to simply put, is a 4'11 ball of endless energy. After our first time hanging out outside of work at a nearby pub, celebrating our survival of our first week as interns, I learned that she lived her whole life in Chicago and graduated from Northwestern for her undergrad and medical degree. Quickly, I learned that with Alice, comes Jasper, her boyfriend since the age of fourteen, and unlike Alice, Jasper carries an air of calmness around him.

I quickly fell into place with them as well as a couple of other doctors, particularly, Angela Webber, Eric Yorke, Mike Newton, and Ben Cheney. Angela was a quiet, but sweet girl that I've grown close to as well. Although she's quiet, anyone push her around, which I'm glad about given the field that we're in. Eric and Ben easily became good friends since they both went to the University of Chicago together. Eric was on the slightly nerdier side but held his own, and Ben was similar. In contrast, there was Mike, he was egotistical, but harmless. They were all nice for the most part, but on the opposite spectrum held the interns that looked down on the rest of us.

"She really gets on my nerve," Alice said through gritted teeth as we entered the half-crowded cafeteria. "She tries to tell me what to do with _my_ patient when _she_ was the one that screwed up yesterday. She literally assigned her patient the wrong dosage of Midazolam!"

The _she_ in Alice's war path is none other than Jessica Stanley, along with her side-kick, Lauren Mallory, make up the evil step-sisters, as everyone like to call them. In my encounters with Jessica, she's always been condescending and felt she was above everyone else and liked to throw in everyone's faces that she can basically get away with everything since _"Daddy plays golf with the Chief of Medicine twice a month." _But she has to know by now that connections only get you so far. To be fair, however, she is a decent doctor, she didn't mess up before the almost over dosage incident that she can't quite live down. But, god, is she a pain to work alongside with. She constantly flirts with the male nurses and doctors, leaving Alice and I thanking god she isn't on our team.

"I'm so glad I've had enough luck to avoid her today," I chuckled as we found an empty table to enjoy our lunch.

"Good on you, I can't imagine how she'll react when she finds out Dr. McDreamy was flirting with you at the nurses' station," Alice giggled wiggling her eyebrows. "You should totally say yes when he asks you out."

McDreamy or Dr. Trevor Thomas, as he is professionally known, is probably one of the handsomer doctors the hospital has to offer. Unlike some of the older residents, he's actually one of the few nice ones, and helped me out with a young patient.

"Alice for the third time," I groaned, "he was just being nice. Just because he smiles and is helpful doesn't mean he's flirting. How do you even know whether or not he's going to ask me, of all people, out?"

"_Puh-_lease_, _if you saw what I saw, you'd know he was pulling out all the stops on the flirt train," Alice stated. "I predict he's gonna ask you out by the end of the week, and I'm usually right about these things."

I rolled my eyes. Dr. Thomas was nice, and he was just that. Although he was attractive, I simply wasn't attracted to him, and there was no way he was attracted to me. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't unattractive, but I wasn't something to fuss about either. With dark brown hair, and boring brown eyes, I was average, normal, for the most part.

After I voiced my thoughts, Alice shook her head, "you obviously don't see yourself clearly, Bella," she stated. "Who wouldn't be interested though, like have you seen the man?! If I wasn't happily in love with Jasper you bet your ass I'd be all over that. Wait! Oh my god, did you meet someone?"

I sat in silence as I listened to the rambling journey of her voice and she quickly jumped to conclusions.

"What?! No!" I exclaimed. However, my mind wandered back to a mysterious neighbor that I've manage to see every day.

I saw the beautiful stranger, or Adonis, as I nicknamed him, almost every day for the past three weeks. My first encounter with him on the morning of my first day was by chance, but every afternoon an excitement grows in me as I know I'd see him jogging down the sidewalk on my walk home from the bus stop, and each time I earn a small wave and slightly crooked smile from him. Each time nerves build up in my stomach as we pass each other with each small wave and crooked smile. Yet, after three weeks, we've yet to say a word to each other.

"You so have!" Alice shrieked accusingly, breaking me out of my reminiscing of my Adonis.

"Have not!" I argued but I feel the heat creeping onto my cheeks.

She gave me a knowing, expectant look. At this point, I've known Alice long enough to know she won't let this go.

"I haven't met anyone," I repeated, chuckling slightly. "But I _do_ have this insanely attractive neighbor, I think?"

"You _think_?" she questioned incredulously.

"Well, I only saw him once in the building, but I see him jogging every evening on my way home," I admitted.

And so, our conversation went on. Alice made me go into detail what he looks like, and for me to spill everything I know about him, which isn't much. As easy conversation flowed, the time flew by and it was time to head back to work.

The day inched on and was a moderately slow day at the hospital as we worked in the ER with few patients coming in. Our worst case so far was an overly clumsy thirteen-year-old who tripped on her own feet and fell down half a flight of stairs. She kind of reminded me of myself, who had the grace of a wooden-legged blind pirate.

Currently, I'm finishing up bandaging a sprained ankle of a high schooler, Ryan, who got injured during an intense soccer game.

"Okay, you're all set Ronaldo," I joked. "But take it easy on that ankle for the next couple of weeks, and hopefully you'd be back to scoring goals in no time."

I went to the nurses' station to fill out Ryan's paperwork, so he can leave. By the time I was done, the phones around me suddenly started going off. It seems as if every phone had someone attached to it. I furred my brows, confused as to why it suddenly became so busy.

I walked over to the nearest nurse, who I recognize as Sheila, a sweet older nurse who has been working here for about 40 years now. She had just hung up the phone and her experienced eyes revealed it all. Today was going to be a long day, and possibly even longer night.

"Get ready Bella, we're probably going to be here way past midnight. There was a shooting at the airport, we're expecting to be at capacity this evening," she informed me as she hurried to make another call to the head of the ER, Dr. Steven Milton.

Before I get the chance to wrap my head around what Sheila said my pager goes off indicating that I report to the ER. Given that I was already here, I waited.

_Shooting_.

Wow. I don't think I fully comprehended what happened. I listened to the buzz around me as announcements were made for hospital staffs to make arrangements for the incoming patients, TVs sounding as every device was flipped to the local news channel. We haven't had any sort of mass fatalities in the weeks of working here so I don't know what to expect. In the span of about three minutes, all of the interns on my team and Angela's team was here since they were directed by Dr. Milton.

Dr. Milton, and Dr. Garcia stood before us and called attention.

"Okay everyone, as some of you heard there has been a shooting at Chicago Midway International Airport. From the calls we've received, we're expecting to have at least fifteen patients in critical condition and more injured," Dr. Milton, a tall, lean, and stern man, directed. He paused for a second and looked at each of us. "I know you all haven't been here long, and most don't usually see something like this so soon in their careers, but it comes down to all of you to do the best that you can to provide for these patients, you've been doing it so already so far."

"Dr. Milton is right," Dr. Garcia voiced. "You know what to do, we're going to be following triage procedure. You know what the color of each tags means, red, immediate treatment, yellow, stable but still need care, green, they can wait, white, dismiss, and black, well, let's just hope we don't get any of those."

I gulped. I've always imagined situations like this in med school when we learned about triage situations, but actually being here right now was surreal. I can feel the apprehension in the air around me proving that I'm not the only that that feel uneasy with the tragedy that happened. On top of that, we're giving the power to judge these patients' injuries. To say we were uneasy was an understatement.

"Remember, trust your medical instincts when it comes to tagging. I trust you know what you're doing, you're the best two teams we have, so let's get to work people," Dr. Milton encouraged.

Even though the situation was tense, Dr. Milton was able to help settle some of our nerves. I took a deep breath and noticed Alice doing the same. We all started getting readying by putting on gloves and making sure we have all the supplies we need for triage.

"It's going to be crazy in here," Angela said nervously, slipping a glove onto on hand.

I grabbed a small glove as well, "I don't doubt it."

"I don't know about you guys, but I call dibs on the most messed up patient coming in," Mike grinned. I rolled my eyes, typical insensitive bastard.

"Really, man? That's what you're thinking about right now?" Eric judged, shaking his head.

"Asshole," Alice muttered.

I scoffed and as we all got ready, we waited. Silence fell upon us as a nurse announced that the first set of victims would be here in about two minutes. We stood near the door as we wait and eventually hear the sirens wailing in the distance. Seconds felt like minutes, and those two minutes felt like hours when suddenly all hell broke loose in the Emergency Room.

The room was rushed by EMTs and paramedics as they rushed patients in trying to maintain some sort of stability with them. I stood still, shocked at the sight in from of me. The first two victims I see are children, they couldn't be no more than around eight or nine. Their arms and clothes were soaked in red that you would think it was dyed that way. I couldn't move as the world around me seem to move in slow motion, my breathing stopped and, in that moment, all traces of being a doctor disappeared and I felt terrified. Terrified for those children, terrified for the victims and what they had to endure.

"Bella," Alice called from in front of me as she accessed one of the small children, "snap out of it, you have to do something."

I quickly came back to reality and rushed to the smaller of the two children, a little boy who seem like he has been shot in his abdomen. I was in doctor mode as I quickly, but thoroughly accessed him for other damages, and then worked to stop the bleeding.

"Hey buddy," I soothingly say as I notice his eye flutter open lazily, "we're gonna get you some help okay. We need to stop this bleeding; can you stay with me? Can you tell me your name?"

He groaned but tried to keep his eyes open, "Gabe," he moaned.

"Can you tell me your last name sweetie?"

"Ma-," he winced as I applied pressure to his wound and tried to fasten gaze and bandages around him. "Mason."

I ease the bleeding and called a nurse over to finish helping once I stabilized him and ensure he wasn't bleeding profusely. I grabbed a yellow tag and scribbled his name down. "You're very brave Gabe, can you stay brave for me? The nurse is going to keep you company, okay?"

He nods, and I look at the nurse as she smiles slightly and starts talking to him. I look around the room to find my next patient in the sea of people crowding the recently vacant ER. I spot a woman holding her arm as blood streams down it, dropping to the floor. I move to help her and accessed her for any damage.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Swan, can I take a look at that?" I asked. As soon as I look at her face I see the fear and terror plastered around her olive skin.

She nods, and I access her arm and quickly look her over for any further damages. She seems okay, aside from arm which I assume was caused by a bullet grazing her. I clean the graze which appeared deeper than I thought and helped stitched her up. Another nurse comes over and helps bandage her arm, and again I jot another name down, but this time its green.

The next patient I see is a young man. He's looks to be around the same age as me. From simply looking at him, I knew immediately he's going to be a red tag. He was bleeding from his lower abdomen and leg, having been shot twice. I work fast to apply pressure to his abdomen and ask him to hold the bandage there in order for me to wrap him leg. I noticed the bullet when through his leg in my assessment, but not in his abdomen. I fear for the worst-case scenario that it's lodged in on of his main organs.

"Please," he croaked as his eyes seem to be fighting to stay open. "Please, you have to find my wife."

I looked at him sadly. "What's her name? Do you know if she was injured?"

"Sarah," he breathed out.

I nodded. "I'll look for her, but we need to have you checked out to see if there's any internal bleeding, okay?"

He seems to be slipping in and out of consciousness. I try to stop the bleeding in his abdomen, but the blood seems endless. His skin starts to pale, he's losing too much blood too fast. I quickly had him moved to one of the beds with the help of two nurses, Brian and Lindsay. Lindsay hooks him up to the EKG, as Brian goes to help another patient. I instructed Lindsay to keep an eye on Brian as I try to fit him in to the now packed OR schedule.

Dr. Garcia walks up, looking to be in her element."

"What do you have?" She asks, as she switches names around.

"Gun shot victim. Male, around 25. He's been shot twice, once in the leg, and once in the abdomen, I think it might have hit his liver, but I won't know for sure unless we do an imaging test. I fear that the bullet might be lodged against his hepatic artery or portal vein."

"We need to move him into an OR as soon as possible," Dr. Garcia says. She looks at the board to make changes again. "Do an ultrasound to make sure, fast, this will be our number one priority if your theory proves to be true."

I move back to Brian and he seems to be even more pale than I left him. I move to grab an ultrasound machine and get to work. I move the wand around and like I predicted, the bullet was wedged in between his portal vein and hepatic artery, cutting off some of the blood circulation to and from his liver.

Dr. Garcia comes over to see the results.

"Well, today is your lucky day Bella," she stated. "You get to assist in your first surgery. We need to scrub in."

I stared at her blankly at a lost for words, no one so far has been able to assist in a surgery since we all started working. Us interns actually have only been able to be in the OR to observe or very minor miniscule things.

"Or do I need to find another doctor to assist me?" she questioned as she raises an eyebrow.

I shook my head clear of my shock. "No, no, I'm ready."

We head to the elevator to go up to the 5th floor OR as the nurses took Brian to get ready for surgery. On my way, I saw Alice getting supplies for one of her patients.

"Hey, Alice, do you mind keeping an eye out for a woman named Sarah? Her husband, Brian, is one of my patients and he's in bad condition and was asking for me," I explained.

She nodded. "Are you heading in the OR?" She asks wide-eyed.

"Yeah," I smiled nervously.

"Wow! Good luck! You have to tell me everything later!" She exclaimed as I turn towards the elevators when I heard the doors open.

Before we make it to the OR, Dr. Garcia and I, along with two surgical nurses and the anesthesiologist, plan the surgery. Dr. Garcia lets me air my approach, only adding comments and encouraging me to go on. Soon enough, we were all heading for the OR to prep for surgery. The nurses got the OR ready as Dr. Garcia and I scrub our hands and arms of germs and grime for at least five minutes.

"I remember my first official surgery," Dr. Garcia reminisced. "Don't worry Bella, you'll be fine. I've been keeping an eye on you since you've started. I can tell you have a promising future as a surgeon."

"Thanks," I smiled, letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"Well, let's go knock 'em dead," she laughed as we moved to enter the OR.

Dr. Garcia's light-heartedness eases my nerves away as we had our gloves put on and move towards Brian who was put under heavy anesthesia. The sound of classical music fills the room, just how Dr. Garcia likes it. She claims it helps keep her focused and helped her ease the tension when she first started out. Dr. Garcia lets me make the first cut and we began the first surgery of my career. I let the music take me as I focus on the man in front of me. We worked together delicately moving the blades, careful not nick anything. She lets me remove the lodged bullet which caused blood to spew everywhere filling up the inside of Brian's abdomen.

"Suction," I say. The excess blood is taken away as Dr. Garcia clams the hepatic artery and then the portal vein.

We continue working in silence, letting the flow of Beethoven's symphony carry us. We finally stopped the blood vessels from spewing blood, and Dr. Garcia does a once over to make sure everything looks fine. With her final approval, she lets me close him up, and just like that my first surgery was done.

We leave the OR after dumping our gloves and PPE in the hazardous trash bin and start washing our hands again.

"Told you it'll be a piece of cake," Dr. Garcia chuckle as she hears me let out an exhausting sigh.

"It's so surreal. It seems like second nature to me already," I admitted. I noticed the generic black clock in the wall read "I didn't realize how long we were in there until we came out. I can't believe almost three hours went by."

I meant it too. I didn't notice the time in the OR at all, it felt like a whole other world and time didn't exist. And leg pain doesn't exist in there either apparently because I feel my leg cramp up from standing still for the better part of three hours.

Dr. Garcia laughs. "I know what you mean. I had a six-hour surgery once and I swear it felt like I was in there for half an hour. You just get so focused in there and the music just adds to it."

By the time we're done, Dr. Garcia and I take a ten-minute break discussing the surgery, some of her crazier surgeries, and the tragedy of the shooting. We watched the news in the break room and found out the police apprehended the suspect and had him in custody. Apparently, he was a past employee at the airport who was recently laid off due to poor attendance and behavior. It sad that these mass shooting are so normalized today, it's like no one can go out and be safe, not at your local grocery store, or movie theater, or school, and it sickens me to say, sometimes at hospitals too.

Dr. Garcia and I express our concerns over mass shootings in general, as we concluded, the only thing there is for us to do at this point is vote. Vote to choose the right people in power, vote to pass the right bills, and vote for the safety of everyone.

Discussing the tragedy only brought our mind to the chaos that was the ER. Soon after our quick 10-minute break, we both headed back and continued to work through the remaining patients.

Around 1:00 am things finally calmed down at the hospital. Alice informed me earlier that she found Sarah, Brian's wife, and she's now with him. Even though we tried our best, our best wasn't enough. At the end of the night, we had two critical care patients that died at the hospital. Altogether, the statistics were high, 18 people died today that we know of and so many more were injured.

Around 1:10 most of the interns had already left, and it was just Alice, Angela, and I in the locker room. Too exhausted to change out of my navy-blue scrubs, I grab my leather tote and say goodbye to the girls.

"Are you sure you don't want me to give you a ride home? You know I don't mind," Alice asked for third time.

"It's okay," I insisted. "The bus stop is a five-minute walk from my apartment, and after this shift, I can use the walk to clear my head."

"Okay," she says reluctantly. "Text me when you get home though."

We say goodbye once more and I head for the exit. Within 10 minutes the bus stopped in front of me. The usually full bus was empty except for two other people, an older gentleman, and a younger waitress. I get off at my stop, quietly bidding goodnight to the driver and made my way down the familiar path to my apartment. My mind drifts to the long day, the slow beginning, the chaotic ER, the surgery, everything. The 19-hour shift was the longest I've had yet. The cramping in my leg makes me wish I'd taken Alice up on her offer.

I continue my walk down the dimly lit street, rounding the corner to my apartment feeling the exhaustion slowly taking over. Suddenly I get the uneasy feeling that one only gets when someone is watching them. I tense slightly, now on high alert. I scanned the deserted street and see nothing. I hastily reached into my tote and grabbed the police-grade pepper spray Charlie had gotten me from work as I heard a distant ruffling sound behind me.

I cautiously glanced behind me and noticed a tall dark figure walking towards me. I tighten my hand on my pepper spray with my thumb firmly placed on top of it. I quicken my pace and so does the figure behind me. My shorter strides were matched by the man's longer ones.

"Where ya going sugar?" the man slurred in a strong Chicago accent.

My even faster pace causes me to trip on the sidewalk and I feel myself falling and being forcefully pushed into the narrow alley between two tall buildings.

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**I know, I know. This one doesn't have much Edward, but I promise there lots of Edward to come.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading guys! Please don't hesitate to leave a review, I'm always open to suggestions.**


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